1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an ADA compliant coin recycling device and method of use thereof. More specifically, the invention relates to a coin recycling device for sorting mixed denomination coins and for dispensing sorted denomination coins that is compliant with the accessibility requirements of the American with Disabilities Act.
2. Description of Related Art
Recycling of coins is typically done in retail, banking and other cash-based operations where batches of mixed denomination coins are sorted for subsequent use. For example, a cashier at the beginning of a shift requires a cash till drawer to be filled with coins for use in dispensing change to customers. The cash till drawers have coin receptacles that are arranged in coin denomination order. If the cashier requires additional coins of one or more denominations to refill the till during the shift, coin change cups are utilized for receiving coins to be added to the cash till drawer.
Prior art coin recyclers used to fill cash till drawers, like the one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,625,272, are capable of receiving a batch of mixed denomination coins, sorting the coins into their denominations and dispensing the desired amount of each denomination into that denomination's proper coin receptacle in the cash till drawer or into a coin change cup. The devices are comprised of a coin input area for receiving the batch of mixed denomination coins, a coin sorter capable of validating, counting and sorting a batch of mixed denomination coins, a first manifold for receiving the sorted coins and directing them into the appropriate coin hoppers, coin hoppers capable of storing coins of a particular denomination and dispensing a desired number of coins on demand, and a second manifold for receiving the coins dispensed from the coin hoppers and directing them into the appropriate compartment in the cash till drawer (or coin change cup), which fits into a housing below the second manifold. The devices are further operated via a computer and an associated software application which controls the coin recycler and guides users through its operations via on-screen instructions.
Coin recyclers of the kind described here rely upon gravity to move the coins into the coin sorter, through the first manifold and into the segregated coin hoppers. Further, gravity is used to move the coins after they are dispensed from the coin hoppers into the second manifold and ultimately into the cash till drawer receptacles of coin change cups. This reliance on gravity to move the coins places a physical constraints on the height of the coin recycler as there is a minimum distance between the coin input area at the top for receiving the coins and the exit of the coins from the second manifold into the cash till drawer. Section 308.2 of the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design requires that “when a forward reach is unobstructed, the high forward reach shall be 48 inches maximum and the low forward reach shall be 15 inches minimum above the finish floor or ground.” Therefore, for any coin recycler to be ADA compliant, the coin input area cannot be above 48 inches from the floor and the coin dispensing area are the bottom of the second manifold cannot be below 15 inches from the floor. This 33 inch difference is not enough vertical drop for the coin recyclers of the type described to operate as there is not enough room for the coin input area, sorter, first manifold, hoppers, second manifold and housing for the cash till drawer or coin change cups.
It is therefore desirable to have a coin recycler device capable of sorting a mixed denomination of coins, storing said coins and dispensing said coins when desired that is also compliant with the ADA Standards for Accessible Design.